tldraw Review

tldraw calls itself a feature-complete infinite canvas engine designed to be the foundation of any canvas app. The README lists self-hostable real-time collaboration through the @tldraw/sync package, drawing and diagramming (pressure-sensitive drawing, geometric shapes, rich text, arrows, snapping, image and video support, export), a runtime Editor API, custom shapes, tools, bindings, and UI components, AI integrations for building with LLMs, DOM-based rendering that supports embeds such as YouTube, Figma, and GitHub, and broad browser and device support. Starter kits (each MIT-licensed) provide multiplayer, an AI agent, a workflow node builder, chat, an image pipeline, branching chat, and a shader demo. The README says the SDK powers canvas experiences in products from companies such as Google, Shopify, BlackRock, Autodesk, ClickUp, and Replit. The licensing is the key caveat: the repository's license file says alternative licenses are available, and defines a Production Environment as any deployment that serves end users, customers, or the public, with internal use excluded.

Install the tldraw package with npm i tldraw and render the Tldraw component in a React app, importing tldraw/tldraw.css. For a full starting point run npx create-tldraw@latest and pick a starter kit. The development server for the examples app runs at localhost:5420. Check the license terms before shipping anything to users.

As an SDK, the experience is the developer's: a React component with a default whiteboard tool set that you can extend with custom shapes and tools. The consumer-facing app at tldraw.com shows what it looks like out of the box. We did not build with it for this review.

• Infinite canvas React SDK
• Self-hostable multiplayer sync with @tldraw/sync
• Custom shapes, tools, bindings, and UI components
• Runtime Editor API
• AI integration primitives and agent starter kit
• Embeds for web content
• MIT-licensed starter kits

• The most capable canvas SDK of its kind, used in well-known products
• Highly extensible architecture
• Self-hosted sync available
• Very popular, about 51,000 stars and daily commits

• Not open source: production use needs a paid license after a 100-day trial
• Pricing is value-based and not published, which complicates budgeting
• It is a developer SDK, not an end-user whiteboard you can drop in for teams
• Free hobby licensing is by application

The SDK License includes a 100-day free trial with no credit card. Production use requires a commercial license with value-based pricing that is not listed on the page; there is discounted startup pricing and a free hobby license by application. Premium modules are described as in development.

Miro is a finished hosted whiteboard for team collaboration, with templates and integrations. tldraw is a toolkit for building your own canvas product, and its free tldraw.com app is closer to a lightweight whiteboard. If you need an end-user collaboration suite, Miro fits; if you are building a product with a canvas inside it, tldraw is the stronger fit but comes with commercial licensing.

• Developers building canvas, whiteboard, or diagramming features into a product
• Teams that want self-hosted multiplayer canvas sync
• Projects exploring AI-on-canvas interactions

• Anyone who needs a license approved as open source
• Non-developers who want a ready team whiteboard
• Commercial products with no budget for an SDK license